What laptop?

Discussion in 'Chatty Pad' started by EuphemiaJo, Dec 6, 2019.

  1. EuphemiaJo

    EuphemiaJo New Member

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    Hi,
    I'm looking to get a new laptop computer.
    I use GIMP for digital scrapbooking and I'm wondering if I need a special graphics card or CPU.
    What do you have and like? What works great? Any irritations?

    I would love to hear from you experienced digital scrappers!

    Oh, and my budget is limited to around 1000 euros ;)
     
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  2. AnneofAlamo

    AnneofAlamo Slippers IN sunshine? Even better!

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    Sorry can't help you on laptop. I scrap on a desktop, with two monitors, but
    I can welcome you to the pad, and look forward to seeing what you finally decide on!
     
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  3. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    Like Anne, I can't help much, mostly because I'm afraid I don't know what's available in the EU. But welcome to TLP! Someone will pop in soon with help for you. :)
     
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  4. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    I know that @keepscrappin just bought a new laptop. I think @BevG did too?

    I am not familiar with GIMP requirements because I use Photoshop, but I think it's less than Adobe?
    I always recommend in general to buy the most RAM and hard drive space you can afford. RAM is what makes the computer process fast.
     
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  5. Cherylndesigns

    Cherylndesigns All glasses should be bigger than 1.5 oz

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    I can't help you much either, for all of the reasons listed above. However, I DO swear by Dell laptops - that's all I've ever had.
     
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  6. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

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    i'm a laptop scrapper but in Aust and so google converted your budget and it's $1600AUD which here would buy a pretty good laptop (in my humble opinion) - the main thing i find limiting is RAM, i've always heard get the most you can afford!
    A graphics card is always good for photoshop and as GIMP is a comparable download, I'd imagine it would benefit similarly from dedicated graphics card (instead of integrated graphics), but that also means it will suck life out of the battery faster - but if you're primarily using it for scrapping at home and plugging in to charge at any time is not a problem, battery life shouldn't limit you.
    You can always add external hard drives so storage isn't a huge issue to me, but i know others have said SSD (Steady State Drives) make a huge difference to the speed you can access things and boot up, so that might be something to consider as well?
    My main issues in the past have been wanting a laptop that still has a CD/DVD drive and whether it has enough USB ports because my EHD's haven't been bluetooth compatible so they're other things to consider as well I guess. Screen size isn't a huge issue to me (I'm used to zooming in and out & have 'rulers' turned on in photoshop all the time so i can see relative size) but depends on what you are used to as well. I did go from a 17inch laptop down to a 15inch - i don't really miss the extra screen size now but at the time, it felt like a big backwards step but I value deskspace too and didn't have the budget then to get a bigger screen!
    Happy shopping!
     
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  7. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

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    oh and i think Jan (@IntenseMagic ) is on a laptop too and it's a 'gaming laptop' which usually has good graphics support that is really good for photoediting & digiscrapping software users too - if technical specifics are hard to follow, and we aren't all technical people, looking for a 'gaming laptop' in your budget might be your best bet @EuphemiaJo
     
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  8. gonewiththewind

    gonewiththewind I choose joy.

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    I haven't had a laptop in a while, but I do agree with @bellbird that looking for a gaming computer will likely check all the boxes for you as far as system requirements and using a graphics program like Photoshop or Gimp. My desktop is an HP Omen and before that I had ASUS.
     
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  9. keepscrappin

    keepscrappin ScrapWithTheWind

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    I just bought a Dell gaming laptop on Cyber Monday. It's a Dell G3 15 inch laptop. The price is a little higher than what I paid but it's still a good deal right now at $999. There was an additional 12% off code (SAVE12) that I used but I'm not sure if it's still active.
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/g-series-15-3590-laptop/gn3590dovbs

    It has 16 MB ram, and a 256GB SSD (bootup) and a 1TB HDD. I wanted both, the solid state drive for faster bootup and the 1 TB HDD for storing my files. I went with the gaming laptop because I wanted a better graphics card. Like others have said get as much RAM and Hard drive space as you can afford. I won't buy anything that has less than 16 MB of ram. I also wanted a NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card because a lot of the integrated cards that come in laptops don't work well with the higher end graphics work that Photoshop needs. Gimp would probably work with most laptops that have 16MB of RAM, but if you're like me and keep your laptops for 4-5 years, I'd buy a better faster one so you won't have to upgrade as often.

    Hope that helps
     
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  10. IntenseMagic

    IntenseMagic Some grannies cuss a lot. I'm some grannies.

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    I do have a gaming laptop. It's an Asus ROG Strix 17.3" laptop with 16GB RAM, 256 SSD, and 1TB HDD. I agree with Kayla that I wouldn't go below 16GB RAM. I have mine connected to another (bigger) monitor for scrapping. I would like to upgrade my RAM to 32GB, but the 16 has been absolutely fine for me. I can run PSCC, Lightroom, and have Netflix open on the other monitor with no problems whatsoever. I went with the gaming laptop mainly because of the better graphics card as well.

    @EuphemiaJo Welcome to TLP!!
     
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  11. BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    Yup, buy the fastest processor and as much RAM as you can afford. I like Dell laptops as they usually last me 4+ years. I did just get a new one. The previous one still works, but it started having problems with the wifi adapter and started to drop the service in the middle of things. New one is lightening fast in comparison.

    @keepscrappin - Check your PS settings. You only want the program files on the SSD. Continually writing to the SSD slows it down over time. My PS was set to use the SSD as scratch (temporary) space - a big no no for SSD life. I also changed where Documents, Photos, Downloads and even Desktop were located to the regular hard drive (drive D:). By default they were on the SSD, which again is not good for longevity of the drive.
     
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  12. keepscrappin

    keepscrappin ScrapWithTheWind

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    Thanks for the heads up on the scratch disk. It'll be a couple of weeks before it gets here. I can't wait. Wish it was here already so I can make sure it's up and running before MOC, but happy that it's on it's way nonetheless.
     
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  13. blueberries

    blueberries Did I ever tell you I have a thing for snakes?

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    I can't help with the laptop specs - I'm a desktop user - but I've been using Gimp for a stupid amount of years. My previous two computers weren't much above a potato rating and I never had any kind of performance issues while using Gimp (eh, maybe a freeze up now and then if I was trying to drop too many layers at the same time, but that was rare.)

    So yeah, the best graphics card you can afford is always a good bet, but for Gimp requirements alone, if you have to choose between higher graphics or more hd space, I'd recommend more space with a slightly less powerful graphics card.
     
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  14. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    totally agree with get the best specs you can afford. My laptop is around 2 1/2 years old and while I didn’t have any say in it (it was an insurance replacement after a burglary) I’m over all pretty happy with it minus the fact I probably will need to max out the RAM soon.
     
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  15. rach3975

    rach3975 Well-Known Member

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    I don't use Gimp, but for PS I've been happy with a low-end gaming laptop. (Technically I think a low-end gaming laptop is anything whose full price is less than $1000 USD. That still means a pretty good computer, unlike a low-end regular laptop which may only be $200.) I have the same kind that keepscrappin has, a Dell GS3. They sell several variations on the same computer, and based on price I might have a more basic model of it than she does. Mine was about $800 on sale.

    I've scrapped with both a 17" laptop and a 15" laptop. I prefer the 17", so when I bought this laptop in the spring I put a little more money into the screen size and upgraded other things less. It all depends on what the tradeoffs would be--on my last laptop I would have had to make too many other compromises to get the 17" screen, so I made do with the 15".

    I like to store a lot on my computer, so I get dual HDs. One is a small SSD boot drive for speed (I think I have 128 gb) and the other is a 1TB HD.
     
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  16. EuphemiaJo

    EuphemiaJo New Member

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    I was away from the computer for the last couple of days.
    And now there is so much information! thank you so much.
    I've read everything and queued in my boyfriend on what I need ;)
    We will have a good look at our options online tomorrow when our son is in school.
    I'm so exited to get my own laptop!
     
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  17. EuphemiaJo

    EuphemiaJo New Member

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    I wanted to give a update.
    I have a Luvion Legion laptop now with an intel core i7 9th gen card.
    I am happy with how it works!
     
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  18. djp332

    djp332 She sells seashells down by the seashore

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    I've always scrapped on a MacBook Pro. 1T HD with lots of RAM, mabe 64? I can't remember. I really wish I could have gotten a 2T HD.
     
  19. cfile

    cfile My bags are packed for Platform 9 3/4

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    I scrap on a HP envy laptop with the larger screen I think it is the 17 inch one. I love it. It is a Windows Laptop and it has high graphic performance used for gaming.
     

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